I received this email today from my Vacations To Go contact. It made me feel nostalgic for the feel of the sea air blowing through my hair as I stand on the deck and lean on the railing looking out into the vast array of blue hues. No not from a voyage I took in 1840, but from my Atlantic crossing in 2013. Seems like yesterday and also like a hundred years ago. I really need to take another cruise.
"On July 4, 1840, the first ship built for Cunard, the RMS Britannia, set sail from Liverpool's Coburg Dock and crossed the Atlantic bound for the United States. Designed to provide trans-Atlantic mail and passenger service and sailing at a maximum speed of 9 knots, the wooden paddle steamer made the trip in 14 days. This was fast in an era when it could take six weeks for mail to cross the ocean. On board were 115 first-class passengers, 89 crew members, 600 tons of coal, the mail, chickens, a cow to provide fresh milk and three cats to control rodents." ~ Alan Fox, CEO and Chairman, Vacations To GoExcuse me while I fix a drink and ponder my next cruise.
Travel wasn't so swell in the past. I remember my mother telling me of the Atlantic crossing when she traveled from Italy to the US as an 11-year-old. As a poor immigrant family, they were consigned to the lower levels of the ship. Still, they were going to America! It's a good thing the ship made a successful crossing. Otherwise, I wouldn't be writing this comment. At least if you go, Annie, it'll be on a nice, modern ship.
ReplyDeleteTraveling steerage wasn't the best thing in those days but I guess the final destination was the prize. I too am glad she made a successful crossing. Don't know what I'd do without you in my life.
ReplyDeleteAwwww.
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